Rabbits are prey animals. Everything
in the wild is trying to eat them. Rabbits survive by exceptional hearing,
being very sensitive and running at the first sign of danger, social groups
which thump on the ground to alert the other rabbits. Rabbits survive
by avoiding the open where hawks and owls can catch them, and by being
able to run quickly, make sharp turns and huge hops and squeeze into little
spaces where other animals can't follow them. They can hop up and turn
direction in the air.

eyes

They have eyes on each side of
their head. Prey animals include horses, fish, some whales, and cows.
Predators including dogs, cats, humans, racoons, hawks, owls, coyotes,
foxes, and snakes have eyes in the front -- and they all eat rabbits.
Because of their eye location they can see in back of them, as well as
in all directions. Rabbit vision is based on movement. Any sudden movement
means danger. If you think about hawks, any sudden movement from above
or behind is very frightening to a rabbit. If you try to talk to a rabbit
head on, they can't see you. Their eyes are best suited to dawn and dusk
lighting.

ears

Rabbits hear pretty much in our
range but also hear much higher pitched sounds which include rodents,
bats, bugs, some bird noises and lots of mechanical or electrical
sounds we can't hear. Ears can be rotated to better collect sound.
Ear position is important in rabbit language, even in lop ear breeds--watch
their ears carefully. Rabbits love music but please, not when they
are sleeping (daytime or nighttime) and only at low volume. Usually
rock and roll has too much 'thumping' sounds but I noticed one of
my rabbits seemed to like "Linkin
Park" and "The Who" and my current rabbit loves live acoustic guitar.

smell

Like most animals, smell is the
most important way of sensing the world. Let them smell your shoes
when you come home.

taste

Rabbits have something like 18,000
taste buds while we only have about 9,000.

sense glands

Under their chin. You will see
them rubbing their chin against the furniture. This marks their territory.

whiskers

These have nerves in them such
as our fingers. Do not cut their whiskers.

feelings

Rabbits live in a social group
like chimps or humans and have a highly developed social order. They
use sounds, scents and body language to communicate. They are extremely
sensitive, extremely loving, but they also get angry like no other
'pet'. Dogs will soil your bed, but rabbits will get angry and
express anger right at you. They will nip, and if they really don't
trust you or have been badly mistreated they will bite. If their nails
are too long you can get badly scratched. If your bunny is angry, hold
something up to his teeth that he can express his anger on such as
a piece of newspaper, a towell or something. Let him vent for awhile.
Wear gloves and sleeves if necessary and avoid the head.

sex

Rabbits go through puberty somewhere
around 6 months and that's when many become 'difficult'...when they
are just becoming rabbits, of course. Male rabbits construct an elaborate
nest with sticks and females hop over them into the nest when they
are interested.

rabbits in the wild and the importance of
tradition

Rabbits
live in large dens under the ground. Some hares live above ground but
like most rabbits, spend most of their life in the undergrowth. In the
house rabbits will try to construct tunnels, underground dens and spend
time under chairs and in other 'safe' places. Rabbits are not rodents
but share a love of running around the perimeter of the room (and will
knaw on any weeds or wires that are in their way). They like to live
on high ground (in a marsh they can't dig underground) and they like
all the trees to stay in the same position (no rearranging furniture).
All dens and nests must have 2 exits even in the house.

Rabbits live in a group
in which some of them are dominant rabbits and the others are the workers.
The dominant ones eat first and have access to the best females. Some
of the others are great diggers, some are great at knawing through tough
branches. You will see this in your house. Some will drive you crazy
with their chewing when you really should be proud of them. Give them
something you want them to chew. Some are docile and some are born leaders
and will stand up to you. Any rabbit who shows a sign of age or sickness
will be harassed unmercifully, will be denied access to rare food and
water, and will often die because of it. Watch out for this in your
house rabbits too.

There is nothing more
important to a rabbit than tradition. It must be a big part of how they
survive in the wild. Perhaps knowing when it's safe to go to the meadow,
or when a certain plant is in bloom. You must keep regular hours daily.
A rabbit will respect the fact that he has to go back into the cage
if you do it at the same time every day. At snack time they will go
to the refrigerator or stand by the box of hay. Or sit near you staring
at you. Or run around to get your attention. Or come over for a pet,
or give you 'the poke'. They don't want a petting, they want you get
back on routine. Same behavior at bedtime. If you watch your rabbit,
you will see that he has a different place to sleep depending on what
time of day it is.

the getaway

If a bunny wants to run around the perimeter of
the room in the undergrowth rather than cross the middle of a room where
a hawk could get him (naturally) then he will want to trim these roots
and vines that are in his way (electrical cords). He needs to have a
path with no obstructions in case of emergency getaway. This what a
good rabbit does. Biting an electrical cord can kill him, ruin the appliance
and burn down the house (though it can just causes a cut and a big spark).
He will also tend to knaw away at any wood furniture that is too close
to the wall to run behind. Same thing for a sofa...make sure one can
run behind it. See Rabbitproofing.

You may notice annoying behavior which often happens
when you are trying to sleep in on the weekends. There are no weekends
in the wild. In the wild one must get up at the same time every dawn
to look for food. Rabbits forage at dawn and at dusk and sleep or rest
the rest of the time. If they think you need to get up, they will be
relentless. I have heard a 2 hour symphony on weekend mornings:
one rabbit was loudly ripping up newspaper and the other was making
some loud bell-like tones on the metal bars. (I have a shelf from Ikea
made out of metal bars which makes a great door fence...my two fighting
rabbits can lick each other through it and it makes great
music.) (See Miscellaneous section)

returning to the 'scene of the crime'

I don't know why they do this, but you will find
that after a traumatic episode of nail cutting or medicine administration,
later they will hop over to the area the trauma took place. I cannot
see how this could possibly be a safe behavior in the wild, but perhaps
this is how they learn more about what they survived. It is almost
like they are asking for another episode but they aren't. Rabbits
are the most curious of animals.